A very small sample of kids reading comics

The other day the twelve-year-old brought over the newest issue of Captain America, the one with Winter Soldier standing in front of an image of Cap and Iron Man fighting, and asked "Who's that guy?"

"That's the Winter Soldier."

"What does he do?"

"Um...he shoots people. Listen, if you're interested we've got a couple of Captain America trade paperbacks (yes, we actually call them "trade paperbacks" around the house...) you could look at..."

"No thanks, I don't really like it that much."

It's not that big a surprise. Brubaker's Cap (still easily my own favorite ongoing series) is dark (visually) and drawn-out, it doesn't grab the eye in the same way that many other books do, and it takes some patience because of multiple storylines and plots that take a year to fully form. She's twelve. It bores her. She'll look at the book, maybe, if she's read everything else in the stack.

So, while there's generally nothing in it that I'd call inappropriate or offensive, Captain America isn't really a kid-friendly book in the sense of attracting younger readers.

What she does like?

Birds of Prey (her current favorite). New X-Men. (Actually she'll happily read any X-Men title.) Teen Titans (not Teen Titans Go, although that was what got her into them). Justice League, sometimes. Young Avengers. New Avengers.

What--if it's in a comic--will increase the odds that she'll read it?

Youth. That doesn't mean that there have to be kids, or even teenagers, in a comic for her to enjoy it. She loves the Justice League and New Avengers, both of which have had a mix of older characters and young twenty-somethings. (Well, New Avengers does have Wolverine in it. All the kids love Wolverine.) But Captain America? He's an old guy. Not, on his own, a draw.

Women. Thus the presence of Birds of Prey at the top of her list. Most of her favorites tend to be group books with a good gender mix, and strong female characters. (She greatly enjoys the old New Teen Titans series.) New Avengers has only had Spider-Woman but she gets a lot of on-panel time; same for JLA and Wonder Woman. (Being female didn't save Hawkgirl, however--she can't stand that one.)

Familiarity. If she already knows something about the character in question, she's more likely to be interested in what happens to him or her. She needs to "get to know" new characters before she cares much about them.

Clarity. If a story is confusing, poorly written or poorly plotted, she won't read it. This goes along with "Familiarity" above, in that if she has a previous understanding of a character or story situation, she's less likely to find it unclear.

Brevity. Stories don't have to be one-shots, but if there are long-range plots winding through the book for many months, there has to be something else to retain her interest because she'll only wait so long for a plot to resolve. If there are other, shorter plots going on simultaneously, that's all to the good.

Fantasy. If the stories are too topical, too real-world, she'll very likely lose interest because, well, she's twelve and she doesn't follow the news all that closely. She likes superheroes, not spies and secret agents.

Action. While characterization is important, it's not enough on its own. She reads She-Hulk but it's not usually on the favorites list, I think because the more soap-opera elements don't interest her.

Consistency. If Iron Man lifted an ocean liner last issue, and this issue he has trouble with a large truck, she notices that. She's not usually terribly picky--although it was interesting watching the X-Men movies with a chorus of "But she can't do that!" and "But that's not how it happened!"--but she does remember at least the broad details and finds it distracting when they're off.

Humor. Again, thus the presence of Birds of Prey at the top of her list. She doesn't insist on this level of humor in her comics, but an unrelentingly grim book is not one she'll keep reading.

(She has, incidentally, read some of the Golden Age collections I've picked up--comics with a much younger intended audience--and although she seems to like them, she prefers the modern books.)

And of course this list is just my impression of what she seems to go for, made from my own observations. Her own perception is probably different.

But I'm looking at it now and thinking, with a few exceptions, isn't all that what we're all looking for in comics? Stories that make sense, that are complex enough to draw us in but not breaking under the weight of their own pretension? Characters that develop within logical parameters? That reflect our world, our selves, in some way? A good mix of action and humor and humanity? A balance of reality and fantasy?

Sure, the kid finds Captain America boring. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with either the book or her point of view. But most of the books she enjoys, I like as well, and for many of the same reasons.